Things looked a little different this week during my workouts. If you remember, Wednesday I announced I would be backing off my running a bit to support my husband who is dealing with some really painful hip issues.
We are still hoping that it will only be a short recovery period. The good news is we don’t believe it is a fracture, the bad news is we really don’t know what it is. Hopefully we will gain some more answers.
Yesterday we headed to the gym with a long bike ride to do. We came prepared with our iPads and iPhones to help pass the time a bit.
Before we left Wes told me to download the iPhone app QuizUp.
The great thing about the game is that you can challenge each other. We decided we would play trivia while we were doing our Saturday spinning. The time FLEW by and we had a blast doing it.
Needless to say since Wes kept choosing the “medical” category, I won a total of about 2-3 games.
We got in a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes and it felt like it went by in no time. That never happens.
Here is what this week looked like:
Monday (1/27)
Run: 5 miles
Walk: 16 minutes
Strength Training: 15 minutes
Tuesday (1/28)
Run: 4 miles
Walk: 22 minutes
Strength Training: 15 minutes
Wednesday (1/29)
Bike: 90 minutes
Thursday (1/30)
Bike: 90 minutes
Walk: 20 minutes
Strength Training: 15 minutes
Friday (1/31)
Bike: 50 minutes
Saturday (2/1)
Bike: 1 hour 40 minutes
Pool Running: 1 hour
Sunday (2/2)
Rest
Weekly Training Summary
Run – 9 miles
Bike – 135 miles (woah!)
Walk – 1 mile
Definitely a little different from last week, but I am OK with that. I’ve really enjoyed being able to spend extra time with my husband and cross train. Even though I’d much rather see him heal up quickly and be back running! This time also allows my body to recover from 3 solid weeks of running. Nothing bad can come from giving your legs a bit of a break.
I came across this article while doing some research on what elite runners do during the “off season.” Wes had also mentioned to me that he had read several of them actually takes 2-3 weeks off completely from running.
It all depends on the athlete of course, but many of them will take 2-3 weeks in their off season and just cross train. It gives their bodies time to recover.
“There’s an interesting phenomenon that occurs among the best runners in the world. They don’t exactly know when they’re ready to come back from their offseason break, so they simply wait until they are bored. Their breaks could be as short as 10 days, or as long as a month. For mod elite athletes, the offseason break consists of one week of nothing, one to two weeks of cross-training and some light GSM…and then it’s back to running.”
My husband takes a lot of hope in this. It isn’t his off season, but if elite runners can take 2-3 weeks off, cross train, and get back on course so can he.
It got me thinking though about my training. YES, I know I am not an elite runner (or ANYWHERE close) but once I get back into training would there be benefit in running hard for an extended amount of time, and then every 6 months or so taking 2 weeks off and cross train. The time off could not only reduce my risk of injury, but also help give your body a break and let me focus on some of the things that many of us simply don’t have time for during training.
I’m off to get some major things done today. Plan for the week ahead, clean, do laundry, and basically get myself ready for the crazy week ahead!
So tell me, what are your thoughts?
Do you ever take extended periods of time off (days or weeks) to recuperate and recover?
Yes, when ever we go on vacation (anywhere from 4 – 9 days) I take a break. It’s good for the body! And gives me extra time to do “vacation” stuff 🙂 Hope his hip feels better soon. Keep us posted!
Will do 🙂 Thank you! Yes vacations are a great time to let your body rest some!
Does that app come on Android? Sounds fun!
I tried to look it up but couldn’t find anything. I’m sure you could find something similar. It was a lot of fun!
Cheat – choosing medical, no fair 🙂
Like most things I think there is no absolute, but for someone running at Wes’ level I think that so long as he is eating to fuel health and recovery (REAL food, not pills and powders) and working on cross-training and other things, the time away from running shouldn’t be a problem.
Another thing to think about – I have read that you should NOT follow that advice on the elite runners. You know why? (a) running is THEIR JOB, their profession and (b) they have people looking after them in terms of coaching, nutrition, etc. Non-professionals assuming that they can do the same thing are often misleading themselves.
Just a couple of thoughts … because honestly I don’t think any of us really know the answer.
Hope you guys had a good weekend – the relaxing sounded like a good thing.
I know right!? I said the same thing.
Yeah I know that and he does to but since he is 12 weeks out from Boston it is really hard on him. He is scared, and I can understand that> I am hoping that he will feel better soon!
Yes, I don’t usually try to mimic professional athletes but I do find it interesting to see how much time they take off. Wes will try to do their workouts and such but he is at a much higher level than I am and since he is trying to get to the Olympic Trials I guess that is OK 🙂
It was a great relaxing weekend! Not time for a crazy week ahead!
I think rest periods are really important. I like to take 2-3 weeks off after a training cycle/peak race. In college it was easy to decide when to take these breaks because there were two really distinct ends of seasons (track and cross country). I would like to still be taking 2 of these types of breaks a year but I haven’t quite figured out the timing yet post college.
I’m sure the break will be good for Wes and he will get back into running really fast!
I’ve never heard of that game, but I’m a trivia lover (not that good at it, but enjoy it), so it’s sounds fun! And YES – I’ve read a lot about elites taking 2-3 weeks off each year. I’ve never taken that long off myself, but I definitely incorporate periods of rest after races, and I’m not opposed to taking a larger chunk of time off! I’m sure Wes will bounce right back – Kevin just had to take 10 weeks off of running for knee surgery (he was cross-training for 8 of those weeks) and just came back to get 2nd in a race yesterday! He won the race last year and had a better time, but for less than 3 months post-surgery, it goes to show that you CAN come back! I have no doubt Kevin will be back to his “regular” times by next race … and taking 10 weeks off is much different than taking 2-3! Hope that helps Wes a bit!
Why would you would back off your running for your husband? I think it’s unfair. He definitely did NOT back off running whatsoever when you got your stress fracture. In fact, didn’t he run 2 or 3 marathons? I’m not saying that he should have stopped training for those, but I don’t think you should stop training/ramping up your mileage either.
I will write up a full response in tomorrow’s post, but it is just what works for us right now. It’s my decision and it benefits me as well. Hopefully it won’t last too much longer 🙂
I am bad about taking time off to recover. I’ve gotten good though at doing low-impact one day followed by high-iimpact the next – spin class one day, long walk the next day. I do believe that rest & recovery is good, but have trouble practicing it still. Something about losing 80 pounds in 1 year plays mind games with you. I will forever I think see myself as 80 pounds heavier.
I know how you feel! I am often the same way. When I get into full on training I often forget to rest, but I am trying to learn from my mistakes this time 🙂